Antioxidant, Antifungal Activities of Ethnobotanical Ficus hirta Vahl. and Analysis of Main Constituents by HPLC-MS.

Chuying Chen,Jinyin Chen,Chunpeng Wan,Xuan Peng

doi:10.3390/biomedicines8010015

Abstract

The medicinal and edible plant, Ficus hirta Vahl. (also called hairy fig), is used for the treatment of constipation, inflammation, postpartum hypogalactia, tumors, and cancer. There is an urgent need for scientific evaluation to verify the pharmacological properties of F. hirta. Therefore, in vitro assays evaluated the antioxidant and antifungal activities of various solvent extracts of hairy fig fruits (HFF). HFF extracts had abundant antioxidant components for a significant amount of total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC) (TPC from 17.75 ± 0.52 to 85.25 ± 1.72 mg gallic acid/g dw and TFC from 15.80 ± 0.59 to 144.22 ± 8.46 mg rutin/g dw, respectively). The ethyl acetate extract (EAE) and acetone extract (AE) of HFF demonstrated potent antioxidant activities against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (IC50 values of 2.52 and 2.02 mg/mL, respectively) and ABTS radicals (IC50 values of 3.06 and 9.26 mg/mL, respectively). Moreover, the AE with a high TFC showed a prominent in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity against Penicillium italicum, causing citrus blue mold. Eighteen metabolites were identified or putatively identified from six HFF extracts. Current findings indicated that HFF extracts had significant antioxidant and antifungal activities and could potentially be used as an alternative agent for the preservation of agricultural products.

Highlights

IntroductionMature fruits resemble wild peaches and have been utilized as medicine and food for centuries [1,2]
The yields of various solvent extracts from hairy fig fruits (HFF) obtained with increasing polarity were ranged from 1.29% ± 0.09% to 8.34% ± 0.32% (Table 1)
Lim and co-workers [24] showed that yields of various solvent extracts from Sargassum serratifoliumis increased with increasing the relative polarity of the extraction solvent, and the current results showed a mimicking trend, where WE showed the highest yield compared to the other five extracts

Summary

Introduction

Mature fruits resemble wild peaches and have been utilized as medicine and food for centuries [1,2]. They are widely distributed and commercially grown in southern China for meeting the food demands along with the treatment of constipation, inflammation, postpartum hypogalactia, tumors, and cancers [3,4,5,6]. There are hardly any scientific studies about the antioxidant and antifungal activities of hairy fig fruits (HFF). The HFF is a famous herbal medicine known in China by the name of ‘Wú Zhı Máo Táo Guǒ’, and has been used in both medicine and food for centuries by Hakka people [1,7,8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion